Uruguay. Eclectic Skyscrapers, Scuttled Battleships, and Other Stories of Old Montevideo
Montevideo is Uruguay’s capital and largest city (population 1.3 million). The city is located on the north shore of the Rio Plata (Spanish for “river of silver”). Geographically, the Rio Plata is actually a large estuary near the confluence of the Uruguay and Paraná Rivers as they enter the Atlantic Ocean. The Spanish were first to reach the north shore of the Rio Plata in 1516. In 1723, the Portuguese built a fort there called San Felipe y Santiago de Montevideo. The following year the Portuguese were pushed out by the Spanish who built Cuidad Vieja (Old City) and made Montevideo Bay their principal naval port in South America. Briefly occupied by British forces during the early nineteenth century, Montevideo became the capital of newly independent Uruguay in 1828.
We had to make special arrangements to bring our Argentinian rental car on the ferry from Buenos Aires. After making the crossing we disembarked at the ferry terminal in Colonia del Sacramento. After a brief walking tour of Colonia del Sacramento, we drove southeast to Montevideo and checked into our hotel located on Rambla Francia (aka Rambla Gran Bretaña). We were fortunate that our room faced the estuary. After settling in, we set out on foot to explore the city, beginning with a walk along the malecón (or esplanade) that ran parallel to Rambla Francia. Lying a few meters from the seawall was an odd sight -- a solitary brick smokestack. We speculated that it belonged to a long-forgotten factory. Our walking tour continued to a fishing pier known as Escollera Sarandí, and then to the harbor.
The Port of Montevideo borders the northern part of the old city and features more than 4,500 meters of dock space. Serving as Uruguay’s principal port, the harbor also hosts La Teja Refinery which is responsible for processing most of the county’s crude oil. Passing a container ship being unloaded, we reached a small park featuring naval artifacts that include the massive steel rangefinder from the WWII German cruiser, Admiral Graf Spee. Know by the British as a “pocket battleship,” the Graf Spee was armed with six twenty-eight-centimeter guns mounted in two triple turrets and had a top speed of fifty-two kilometers per hour. Sinking nine merchant vessels between September and December 1939, the Graf Spee’s success was short lived. On December 13, 1939, it was confronted by three British cruisers during the Battle of the River Plate. Although inflicting damage on the British ships, the Graf Spee was severely mauled, forcing it to enter the Port of Montevideo for repairs. Under neutrality articles of the 1907 Treaty of the Hague, the Graf Spee could stay in the harbor for only seventy-two hours. With repairs underway, Captain Hans Langsdorff received reports that a significant force of British warships was approaching. The information was actually a ruse created by British Naval Intelligence. Knowing that it would be challenging to outrun British warships and hoping to avoid the death or capture of his sailors, Langsdorff and forty of his crew scuttled the Graf Spee in the Rio Plata on December 17th within view of 20,000 spectators from Montevideo. Subsequently, the ship’s crew was interned in Argentina for the duration of the war. Considered a hazard to navigation, salvage crews began work to remove portions of the Graf Spee in 2004. Along with the rangefinder and other pieces of the superstructure, they raised a large Nazi swastika that was immediately covered by a tarp as it was pulled out of the water.
After visiting the port, we explored cobblestone streets of Ciudad Vieja (the old city). Surrounded by a fortified wall until 1829, the city’s colonial-era buildings are now part of a business district. One section of the historic wall has been preserved as the principal entryway to the original citadel. Today, Ciudad Vieja’s Brecha Street is located at the place where the city wall was breached by cannon fire during the 1807 British invasion. We passed the Metropolitan Cathedral and Solís Theater on our way to Plaza Indepencia.
Near the center of Plaza Indepencia is a statue of José Gervasio Artigas sitting on a large horse. Artigas was a soldier, stateman, and national hero of Uruguay. On the southeast corner of the plaza is the 26-story tall Placacio Salvo (Salvo Palace), designed by an Italian architect Mario Palanti. The building is named after its owners, the Salvo brothers, who became wealthy through their textile company. For a brief time after its completion in 1928, the one-hundred-meter-tall skyscraper was South America’s tallest building. Constructed to resemble Palacio Barolo in Buenos Aires, the building was designed in the Eclectic style that combines Neoclassical characteristics with Renaissance, Gothic, and Art Deco elements. Originally meant to be a hotel, the palace features a cinema, offices, and private apartments. Following its completion, the building was topped by a 300,000 candle powered light and 920 millimeter parabolic mirror visible for more than a hundred kilometers. The lighthouse has since been removed.
High on a hill overlooking the city and harbor is Fortaleza del Cerro (aka Fortaleza General Artigas). Since the fort was too far from our hotel to walk, we hailed a cab. Our driver suggested that we exercise care because the fortress is located in a dangerous part of the city. Indeed, we witnessed a fistfight as we drove through a barrio called Casabó. At 134 meters above sea level, the fortress has a commanding view of the city and port. Constructed by the Spanish between 1809 and 1839, the fort was built as protection against a seaborne invasion. Under the supervision of the Uruguayan Army, the fort has operated as a military museum since 1916. We entered by climbing a stone staircase and paying a small admission fee. On each corner of the fort is a ten meter high bastion made from grey stone. Inside the walls are the parade grounds and a two-story building with interpretive displays representing Uruguay’s military history. Although not accessible to visitors, a basement below the fortress houses the powder magazine, arsenal, and a few prison cells.
